276 ADVENTURES OF AN ELEPHANT HUNTER ch. 
Scores of men, women and children, make merry, 
yelling, laughing, chattering and quarrelling as they 
slash and grab at the choicest portions of the meat, 
while some of the more boisterous spirits get right 
into the carcase, from which they emerge, later on, 
in a horrible mess, with bodies smeared and hair 
matted with congealed blood, and looking more 
like devils than human beings. The dexterity with 
which these people use their knives is amazing, and 
how they avoid severely cutting themselves has 
always been a mystery to me, for their razor-edged 
blades are continually criss-crossing and ripping 
away in all directions in a seemingly reckless 
fashion. 
Although I have read many eulogies on elephant 
meat as a food, I must say that I think it tough 
and coarse-fibred and without any flavour of game. 
The feet make good eating, being very gelatinous, 
but in my opinion the trunk is by far the most 
palatable portion of the elephant. The method of 
cooking these titbits is curious : a fire is kindled in 
a large hole dug in the ground, and when it has 
burned clear, a light layer of earth is placed over 
the hot embers, the trunk or foot being inserted in 
this layer and covered with more earth. A huge 
fire is then kindled over this strange oven, and in 
about thirty-six hours, the meat is ready to serve. 
Elephants heart, toasted, is good, but has, in my 
